49ers beat the Saints because of these key turning points

49ers vs. Saints turning point No. 3: Nick Bosa sack on 4th down

Twice, the Saints had red-zone trips that threatened to end San Francisco’s second-half defensive scoreless streak.

Twice, the 49ers came up with plays that were absolutely vital.

After already engineering a red-zone stop earlier (we’ll get there), New Orleans had to go for it on a 4th-and-goal on the Niners’ 4-yard line. All day long, San Francisco’s pass rush had failed to record a sack on quarterback Andy Dalton (or Taysom Hill, for that matter), but the prowess of EDGE Nick Bosa is going to be there regardless of the situation up to that point.

OK, so there’s a question mark about whether or not Bosa was offsides during the 49ers’ lone sack of the afternoon, and you can be the judge:

“I thought I jumped, but I looked at it,” Bosa told reporters after the game. “I think it was just a good jump.”

Either way, this particular play thwarted a massive scoring opportunity the Saints had. Considering there was ample time left on the clock and the Niners offense had issues moving the ball, too, New Orleans capitalizing here could have led to a vastly different outcome.

Bosa ensured that didn’t happen, though.